


He Always Knew His Screams Would Fall on Deaf Ears

by jubilantscribbler



Series: He Never Liked Camp Anyways [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Kid Has to Perform First Aid, Sort of Graphic Descriptions of Wounds, not a fun time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24553903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jubilantscribbler/pseuds/jubilantscribbler
Summary: Prequel to Day 4 of Jaspvid Week 2020 - “Remember When They Were Bad Friends?”It all happened on one day, he realizes, as he leads Jasper back to their tent.  Everything happens so much, he realizes, as he carefully sits Jasper down on his cot and tries to keep himself together.  What he doesn’t need to realize is that Camp Campbell sucks.  And always has sucked.And today only proved his point in the worst way possible.
Relationships: David & Jasper (Camp Camp)
Series: He Never Liked Camp Anyways [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774675
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	He Always Knew His Screams Would Fall on Deaf Ears

**Author's Note:**

> no one asked for this prequel, but i'm so sincerely invested in this au that this one scene never left my mind. it always bugged me that jasper was just left like, standing there to the side clearly mauled by a bear while everyone kinda just, admires campbell?
> 
> kid fell from a fucking cliff and was mauled by a bear where was the medical assistance you dicks
> 
> sorry david

"I told you this camp sucks!" 

His hands are shaking.

"Davey-"

"It sucks and I hate it and-"

He can't have his hands be shaking. 

" _Davey._ "

Jasper holds David's hands still. 

And he remembers to breathe. Remembers that his choking breaths are the result of him crying. That his hands can't be shaking because.

Because.

He's the one holding the bandages.

"You don't have to do this."

"I have to! No one else will!"

He doesn't mean to snap. 

He really doesn't. 

But being mean is his default. Even when he ducks his head and looks away ashamed.

He really doesn't mean to be mean. 

But Jasper is kind. Understanding. And he doesn't let go of David's hands.

"...Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not mad."

He takes a steadying breath. Tugs his hands out of Jasper's grip and starts to unfurl the gauze. The gauze from the first aid kit.

The first aid kit that he had to steal from the counselors.

Because they wouldn't do anything.

Because they'd rather stand around and congratulate Mr. Campbell for "saving" him and Jasper.

Because they didn't notice the bleeding, scratched up, _wounded_ kid standing next to David even when Quartermaster ripped away _his_ badge that _he_ earned and gave it to David instead-

He unfurls the gauze. Holds it up to Jasper's bloodied chest. Watches as the brunette tries to hide his trembles. Tries to keep his chest from heaving.

Because he's in _pain_. Because he was just _mauled by a bear_. Because Mr. Campbell took too long trying to find Jasper because he never wanted to find Jasper in the first place, didn't he? Mr. Campbell was full of hooey, the worst kind of hooey, the kind of hooey David saw in so many other adults in his life-

"Davey, broski," Jasper chuckles nervously as David's hands hover with the gauze, "I don't wanna um, jam up your thoughts but uh, maybe you should disinfect the... the, you know." He gestures to the front of his chest as he swallows down the memory. "...Yeah."

"...Right. Sorry. I didn't- I never paid attention during the first aid stuff." David mumbles softly as he puts the gauze down and searches for a... bottle. What's it called again? Dang it, he really should have paid attention during the first aid stuff! He frowns as he tries to remember what his mom would use on his cuts from when he'd get into fights at school. It's big. And brown. And has a white cap. And smells like he shouldn't put it in his mouth. David rifles around in the first aid kit, but it's too small to hold a big bottle.

Instead, he finds a smaller bottle. Opens the cap. Sniffs it.

Smells like hurt.

He looks between the bottle and Jasper's wounds.

Smells like a lot of hurt. Like white foam that bubbles and burns and makes him hiss, and god, Jasper has big, deep cuts doesn't he? He looks around the wounds, looks at the smaller scrapes and scratches and decides to take care of those ones first.

Because that'll help prepare Jasper for the pain, right? Get him used to the burning. Before.

Before he.

Before he has to clean bigger cuts.

David wants to cry some more.

But he can't. Because if he cries, he won't be able to see.

And Jasper needs him, right now.

So he takes a deep breath. 

"This, um, this might hurt a little." He finds a little baggie filled with cotton balls and immediately thinks that this won't be enough, Jasper's wounds are too big for this small bag of cotton and this small bottle of burning, but he has to make do. He has to make do because the adults don't care and he's the only one who cares. 

The only one who saw what happened and knows that Jasper is in more pain than he lets on.

Knows that this first aid kit isn't enough, that Jasper should be in the hospital but he's not. Of course he's not, this camp _sucks_ and always has sucked and-

He places the cotton ball over the mouth of the bottle and does a swift pour. The cotton ball is sufficiently damp now, damp with hurt and burning, but his mom always promised him that the hurt meant that the liquid was doing its job. That it was cleaning his cuts of the bad germs that would make him hurt way worse.

He looks to Jasper and hovers the cotton ball by the scratch on the boy's cheek. Jasper watches him with eyes full of trust.

They weren't always full of trust.

But after today.

After what happened.

He wonders.

Is he the only one that Jasper trusts now?

Gently, he dabs the cotton ball on Jasper's face and nearly recoils when Jasper hisses.

"Sorry! Sorry I-"

"It's okay!" Jasper waves his hands in front of him and laughs nervously. His hands fall back onto his lap as they twist and grip, trying to anticipate the pain, more pain, more pain for Jasper, god, hasn't he been through enough? Hasn't Jasper had enough pain for one day? "I'm okay, it's just. Um. I guess I'm not too good with pain."

"Who’d a thunk." David hesitates as he hovers the cotton ball over Jasper's cheek again, watching as those hands twist and grip. "...Hang on." Quickly, David puts the cotton on Jasper's knee (the unscathed one, somehow), and takes off his vest. He wordlessly stuffs it into Jasper's hands, feeling them grip onto the stiff but versatile material in confusion.

"Um...?"

"I don't have a teddy bear," he says quickly as he picks the cotton ball back up, "but I figured this was, you know, good enough."

"...Thanks."

"It's the best I can do." He avoids looking at Jasper's eyes as he gently dabs at his cheek again. This time, there is no hiss of pain, but there is a little flinch. Still, he keeps dabbing until he can't see any more dirt. Until the scratch fizzes a little, and there's a little bubbly that means that the liquid is doing its job, and when it finally stops bubbling, he puts the cotton back down and looks for a bandage.

"There's uhhh... boring and boring. Do you want Boring 1 or Boring 2?" He offers two standard band-aids to Jasper, frowning as the other boy giggles.

He wishes he had some better ones to give the brunette, but this camp sucks so he's not too surprised that the selection sucks too. 

"I'll take Boring 2."

"Not Boring 1? I thought for sure you'd take Boring 1."

"Why?"

_Because you're Number 1 at everything_ , is what he wants to say. What he says instead is:

"Because you're a square who likes dumb trends and taking the first thing sounds like something you'd do." He flinches when he says that. He really didn't mean it. He's being mean again-

But Jasper just laughs. Before, Jasper wouldn't laugh. He'd get hurt and insulted and look upset just like all the other campers would when David insulted them.

But Jasper just... laughs.

Which is weird because it sounds real and genuine and David can’t fathom why he’s laughing right now.

But he decides that he likes hearing it.

And he wants to hear it more.

"Jeez, Davey! If it weren't for my shoes, you'd never have saved me, y'know?"

"Yeah, whatever." He carefully puts Jasper's chosen band-aid on his cheek. "I still think they're dumb."

"I don't think they are!"

"You need better taste." They keep talking, distracting themselves from the reality of their situation as they tease and poke fun at each other while Jasper's hands squeeze and pull on David's vest, while David's hands start getting into the rhythm of dab dab dab, "Boring 1 or Boring 2?", and then putting the band-aid on.

Eventually, David finishes cleaning all the scrapes and cuts.

Eventually, David sticks on the last band-aid.

And eventually.

David finds he can't prolong the inevitable.

The gauze lays still unfurled next to Jasper.

The bottle is still two-thirds full.

He still has some cotton balls left.

And Jasper looks nervous. His leg is bouncing, hands twisting and burying themselves in David's vest as he watches David's hands.

How David is gripping tight to the small bottle in his hand.

He has to clean Jasper's wounds next.

The big ones.

Three, big gashes across his chest.

The bleeding is minimal now.

He needs to clean it.

And he thinks.

How can he put it off some more?

How can he put off putting Jasper through more pain?

"Um." He puts down the bottle. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna get some water and uh. Paper towels- no, wait, I have a towel in my backpack- hold on, okay, I'll be right back." He motions with his hands for Jasper to stay put as he backs out of their tent. "I promise I'll be right back." 

And Jasper gives him a weak smile. But a smile nonetheless.

"I know. I trust you."

David hesitates. Looks over how Jasper is hunched over on his cot, looking at David with eyes that border on scared, border on desperate, border on “please don’t leave me alone again”. He doesn't want to leave Jasper alone. But he needs to get the water. He blinks slowly, watching the brunette watch him from where he stands by the tent flap.

And he swallows.

"You won't even notice I'm gone."

And he runs out.

He runs to the mess hall, to where he knows there's plastic water bottles for the campers to grab during the daytime.

Except the crickets are singing, and the stars are bright as the moon shines down on David. He kicks open the door to the mess hall and looks over to where the water bottles usually are.

Gone.

But that won't stop him. 

He looks towards the kitchen instead. The doors are probably locked. But that little window from where Quartermaster dumps out their food is still wide open. He runs to that window, jumps up to heave his upper body over the ledge, grunts as he pulls himself up and over and into the kitchen with the grace of a log as he lands with a clatter.

Spoons and spatulas clank to the ground as they make a loud ruckus, but David finds that he doesn't care. He doesn't care as he looks around the small kitchen and sees another door for the pantry and runs to that. He doesn't care that when he yanks the door open, he finds Quartermaster standing inside, staring at him like a creep as a case of bottled water lays just behind him.

David growls. "Move it, old man."

Quartermaster says nothing. Just stares, with his single eye.

"Move, dang it!"

Quartermaster continues to stare down at him. David huffs and dives to the side as Quartermaster watches. The ginger quickly tears through the case and grabs bottle after bottle.

One, two, three- is three enough? No, maybe four just in case- no, five, in case Jasper gets thirsty- wait, six, in case _David_ gets thirsty too-

He stands up, three bottles in each arm as he turns defiantly to face Quartermaster, ready for if the man tries to stop him-

Except.

He doesn't.

Quartermaster simply watches with little interest as he steps to the side, letting David pass without a fight. Strange. Any other adult would be questioning him by now. He's bad to the bone! Anyone else would be getting mad at him for snatching six bottles of water by now!

"You're not gonna stop me?"

"Not my business," Quartermaster answers with a grunt. "Door's unlocked. Don't crawl through the servin' window again, gettin’ dirt all over my mashed potatoes."

"Whatever, old man." David blows a raspberry at Quartermaster and quickly turns to run when he sees a familiar glare settle on the old man's face. Like he said, the door remains unlocked as David kicks the kitchen door wide open with a bang, and proceeds to do the same with the mess hall doors.

It doesn't matter if anyone else hears him. It's not like they were going to stop him. Or do anything about it.

No one ever does anything about him anyways.

Nobody actually cares, and that's why he's always hated this camp.

They're all a bunch of fakes.

All of them.

All of them except...

He bursts through their tent, chest heaving as he drops all six bottles on the floor. And Jasper's nervous grimace turns back into a smile.

All of them except him.

"I’m back."

"I know, bromide. I could hear you tear through the mess hall like Taz!"

David tears through his bag and yanks out his old, raggedy towel. He grabs the closest water bottle and cracks it open, pouring all of the contents onto the towel and then squeezing with irritation as it doesn't pour fast enough. Once the towel is soaked, he stands up and faces Jasper. 

His chest is caked in blood.

Jasper's blood.

David's mind reels as he remembers the blood, still fresh, still bleeding, as Jasper's terrified voice met his ears. Jasper could have died. He could of been eaten alive by bears, or bled out, or left alone to starve in a cave-

"Davey," Jasper says softly, "it's okay, I can do this part myself-"

David jerks back away from Jasper, shaking his head quickly.

"No- no, you're _hurt_ , you're not supposed to move." Now's not the time to be lost in his thoughts again! He needs to focus, focus on Jasper, focus on making Jasper feel _better_ after everything that happened today. "I can do it. It's okay."

"If... if you say so." Still, Jasper looks worried. Uncertain. As if he's scared David's about to break down in tears again like he did earlier when he held the first aid kit in his hands for the first time-

No.

No!

Focus, dang it!

"Just... you trust me, right?"

"I... of course I trust you, Davey." 

"Then let me do this for you." Each word hits with a heavy emphasis as he steps closer to Jasper, the dampest part of the towel held tightly in his hand as he carefully wipes away at the dried blood. "Please."

"...Okay."

He cleans Jasper in silence.

There's no teasing. No light banter as the towel wipes the blood clean off of Jasper's chest, giving David a better look at the damage the bears wreaked on Jasper.

Torn skin.

Torn flesh.

But the bleeding is barely there.

Just caked blood that David wipes away from around the gashes.

He can't see bone which is- thank god, thank _god_. But Jasper really should go to a dang hospital. If he just hangs around camp, will they even heal properly? How is he going to heal? What can David do to help him heal?

He cleans. And cleans and cleans and cleans until there's no more blood left to clean, and it's just three long gashes staring back at David as he holds a towel dirty with Jasper's blood. He drops it to the floor and lowers his eyes.

He can't prolong it anymore.

What can he do?

What can he do to make it hurt less?

...The answer is nothing.

There's nothing he can do.

Jasper keeps quiet.

Doesn't interrupt David's thoughts as the ginger bends down to pick up the small bottle. Watches as he rolls the thing around in his hands. 

What can he do?

Is the answer really nothing?

David squeezes his eyes shut.

"...Jasper."

"Yes?"

He can be honest.

"This is... gonna hurt a lot."

"...Yeah, I know."

He can... get Jasper comfortable.

"Can you... do you wanna lay down for this?"

"...Sure."

Maybe something from TV can help.

"Um, one time I watched a guy bite into something while doctor's sewed him up. Maybe biting into my vest will help?"

"I'll give it a shot."

And... he can warn him.

"...I'm gonna start now."

"Okay."

And he can listen. Listen to Jasper.

"If it's too much, just tell me, okay?"

"I will."

"I promise I'll stop."

"I know."

He opens his eyes. Sucks in a breath. 

David doesn't know what he's doing.

But Jasper's staring at him. There's fear in his eyes, because they both know this is going to suck, more so for Jasper than for David, obviously. But there's also a bit of determination.

Like he's trying to be a little brave.

Brave enough so that David can be confident.

Brave enough to let David know that see? This will be okay.

They'll be okay.

He trusts David.

Jasper nods to David, vest bunched up in his hands as David holds up the bottle over Jasper's chest.

He's going to have to pour.

It's going to hurt. A lot.

But he can make it quick.

He _has_ to make it quick.

Jasper doesn't deserve any more pain.

"...Ready?"

"Ready."

David hears rather than sees Jasper bite into his vest when he quickly pours the liquid into his wounds. The muffled screams are hard to miss, but he has to steel his nerves and continue... disinfecting, right? That's the word Jasper used.

He needs to disinfect the gashes to keep the bad germs out, even as Jasper thrashes on his cot and David's biting back his tears because he needs to see what he's doing, and Jasper's in pain, he's in so much pain, but he needs to do this, he _needs to do this for Jasper_ -

The bottle is empty when he drops it to the ground, and he gathers Jasper up in his arms as he hugs him close, careful not to touch the gashes still bubbling on his chest, careful to angle them both just right so that Jasper can dig his fingers into David's back and bury his face against his shoulder so that they can both weep into each other until the pain fades.

They stay like that, clinging who knows how long until Jasper finally relaxes.

He never told David to stop, did he?

Gently, carefully, David helps Jasper sit up as he flinches and hisses from the lingering pain. He picks up the gauze and looks to Jasper's lowered head. 

"...Can you lift your arms for me?" A tired nod from Jasper as he weakly lifts his arms. "...I'll be quick."

He really should have paid attention during first aid, he thinks, as he wraps the gauze around Jasper's chest. Is this too tight? Is it too sloppy? Is he doing it right? God, he hopes he's doing it right.

He keeps wrapping until he can't see the gashes anymore, and he keeps the gauze in place with some tape he finds in the kit.

Without a word, Jasper goes back to lying down. The brunette looks exhausted, and David can't blame him. He doesn't let go of David's vest though. And David doesn't ask for it back. Instead, he pulls the covers over Jasper's shoulders. Leaves a water bottle on the ground for Jasper. Breaks the seal so that it's easier for the boy to open.

And then David curls onto his cot.

"...Good night, Jasper."

At first, Jasper doesn't answer, and David is ready to content himself with thinking Jasper is asleep. But then, ever so softly, he hears:

"...Good night, Davey. Thanks for... everything."

And just so softly, ever so softly, he whispers back:

"Of course, Jasp."

Moments pass, and David can hear the soft snores of Jasper sleeping as David lies awake, watching him. Watching and counting each rise and fall of his chest. Listening carefully to his breathing.

And David...

David's scared.

Scared that when he falls asleep.

Jasper won't wake up.

So he stays awake.

And he watches.

To make sure that Jasper stays alive.

He'll make sure Jasper stays alive because.

Well, Jasper has a nice laugh, doesn't he?

He should laugh more.

Smile more.

This camp sucks, David knows this.

But Jasper doesn't.

And if David had paid attention during first aid, he could have helped Jasper more.

So as he lays there, watching, listening, making sure that Jasper makes it through the night, he promises himself.

Makes a quiet vow to himself.

That he'll pay attention more.

That he'll learn more.

Because David doesn't want to do this again.

And he doesn't want Jasper to go through this again.

He doesn't want _anyone_ to ever go through this again.

Never, ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to call this au, "David Hates Camp Campbell". Will it continue? Who knows.


End file.
